Gradient-orientation-based PCA subspace for novel face recognition

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Face recognition is an interesting and a challenging problem that has been widely studied in the field of pattern recognition and computer vision. It has many applications such as biometric authentication, video surveillance, and others. In the past decade, several methods for face recognition were proposed. However, these methods suffer from pose and illumination variations. In order to address these problems, this paper proposes a novel methodology to recognize the face images. Since image gradients are invariant to illumination and pose variations, the proposed approach uses gradient orientation to handle these effects. The Schur decomposition is used for matrix decomposition and then Schurvalues and Schurvectors are extracted for subspace projection. We call this subspace projection of face features as Schurfaces, which is numerically stable and have the ability of handling defective matrices. The Hausdorff distance is used with the nearest neighbor classifier to measure the similarity between different faces. Experiments are conducted with Yale face database and ORL face database. The results show that the proposed approach is highly discriminant and achieves a promising accuracy for face recognition than the state-of-the-art approaches

Decentralized Erasure Codes for Distributed Networked Storage

We consider the problem of constructing an erasure code for storage over a network when the data sources are distributed. Specifically, we assume that there are n storage nodes with limited memory and k<n sources generating the data. We want a data collector, who can appear anywhere in the network, to query any k storage nodes and be able to retrieve the data. We introduce Decentralized Erasure Codes, which are linear codes with a specific randomized structure inspired by network coding on random bipartite graphs. We show that decentralized erasure codes are optimally sparse, and lead to reduced communication, storage and computation cost over random linear coding.Comment: to appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Special Issue: Networking and Information Theor

A novel user-centered design for personalized video summarization

In the past, several automatic video summarization systems had been proposed to generate video summary. However, a generic video summary that is generated based only on audio, visual and textual saliencies will not satisfy every user. This paper proposes a novel system for generating semantically meaningful personalized video summaries, which are tailored to the individual user's preferences over video semantics. Each video shot is represented using a semantic multinomial which is a vector of posterior semantic concept probabilities. The proposed system stitches video summary based on summary time span and top-ranked shots that are semantically relevant to the user's preferences. The proposed summarization system is evaluated using both quantitative and subjective evaluation metrics. The experimental results on the performance of the proposed video summarization system are encouraging

A Toxicity study on “Pavala Parpam”

The medicine PAVALA PARPAM was taken for the dissertation work based on Kannu Sammy, Parambarai Vaithiyam, Page No :385, 386. The aim of this dissertation is to study the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the medicine PAVALA PARPAM administered at various presumed moderate dosage, in the experimental animals. The Ingredients of PAVALA PARPAM are Pavalam and Thaivelai. The pavalam were purchased from fishermen of Tiruchendur Seashore and Thaivelai collected from Moolikulam region. The raw samples were taken for purification and the test medicine was prepared, as per the method narrated in the literature. The drug was analysed for its physicochemical properties and contents by using qualitative biochemical analysis and modern techniques such as inductively couped plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Depending upon the result of these analysis the contents of test sample was identified. By scanning electron microscope (SEM), the size of the particles about 2-1 micron, were analyzed. _ The study was done at Department of Pharmacology, Nandha College of Pharmacy, Erode District. To evaluate the acute toxicity study 15 rats were selected and divided into 5 groups (Group I, II, III, IV, V) and they were administered with the drug with different graded doses ranging from Control, 5mg/kg, 50mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 2000mg/kg body weight of animal orally with control group. Daily the animals were observed for clinical signs and mortality. The drug did not produce any mortality and is safe upto 2000mg/kg body weight. Sub acute Toxicity was conducted for about 28 days duration. No signs of toxicity was observed in animals from different dose groups during the dosing period. The haematological index shows no significant changes 118 During long term administration of the drugs at both low dose and high dose SGOT, SGPT, Serum Urea, Serum Creatinine level found to be within the normal range. Biostatistical measures to the acute and subacute toxicity studies shows the drugs “PAVALA PARPAM” found to be safe up to 2000mg/kg body weight of the animal in acute toxicity study and found to be safe upto 20mg/kg body weight of the animal in sub-acute toxicity study. In this study since there is no mortality, the lethal dose of drug could not be calculated. CONCLUSION: From acute toxicity study it was observed that the administration of PAVALA PARPAM up to the dose of 2000 mg/kg to the Wistar Albino Rats did not produce drug-related toxicity and mortality. So No-Observed-Adverse-Effect- Level (NOAEL) of PAVALA PARPAM is 2000 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity studies also reveals that the drug “PAVALA PARPAM” can be considered safe, as it did not produce either any lethality or adverse changes with general behaviour of rats and also there were not observable determental effects in the doses (5 to 20mg/kg body weight) over a period of 28 days. It is concluded that the “PAVALA PARPAM ” is relatively safe in long administration upto the dose of 20mg/kg

A Toxicity study on “Pavala Parpam”

The medicine PAVALA PARPAM was taken for the dissertation work based on Kannu Sammy, Parambarai Vaithiyam, Page No :385, 386. The aim of this dissertation is to study the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the medicine PAVALA PARPAM administered at various presumed moderate dosage, in the experimental animals. The Ingredients of PAVALA PARPAM are Pavalam and Thaivelai. The pavalam were purchased from fishermen of Tiruchendur Seashore and Thaivelai collected from Moolikulam region. The raw samples were taken for purification and the test medicine was prepared, as per the method narrated in the literature. The drug was analysed for its physicochemical properties and contents by using qualitative biochemical analysis and modern techniques such as inductively couped plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Depending upon the result of these analysis the contents of test sample was identified. By scanning electron microscope (SEM), the size of the particles about 2-1 micron, were analyzed. _ The study was done at Department of Pharmacology, Nandha College of Pharmacy, Erode District. To evaluate the acute toxicity study 15 rats were selected and divided into 5 groups (Group I, II, III, IV, V) and they were administered with the drug with different graded doses ranging from Control, 5mg/kg, 50mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 2000mg/kg body weight of animal orally with control group. Daily the animals were observed for clinical signs and mortality. The drug did not produce any mortality and is safe upto 2000mg/kg body weight. Sub acute Toxicity was conducted for about 28 days duration. No signs of toxicity was observed in animals from different dose groups during the dosing period. The haematological index shows no significant changes 118 During long term administration of the drugs at both low dose and high dose SGOT, SGPT, Serum Urea, Serum Creatinine level found to be within the normal range. Biostatistical measures to the acute and subacute toxicity studies shows the drugs “PAVALA PARPAM” found to be safe up to 2000mg/kg body weight of the animal in acute toxicity study and found to be safe upto 20mg/kg body weight of the animal in sub-acute toxicity study. In this study since there is no mortality, the lethal dose of drug could not be calculated. CONCLUSION: From acute toxicity study it was observed that the administration of PAVALA PARPAM up to the dose of 2000 mg/kg to the Wistar Albino Rats did not produce drug-related toxicity and mortality. So No-Observed-Adverse-Effect- Level (NOAEL) of PAVALA PARPAM is 2000 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity studies also reveals that the drug “PAVALA PARPAM” can be considered safe, as it did not produce either any lethality or adverse changes with general behaviour of rats and also there were not observable determental effects in the doses (5 to 20mg/kg body weight) over a period of 28 days. It is concluded that the “PAVALA PARPAM ” is relatively safe in long administration upto the dose of 20mg/kg

GResilient index to assess the greenness and resilience of the automotive supply chain

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to suggest an Index entitled GResilient Index to assess the greenness and resilience of the automotive companies and corresponding supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated assessment model is proposed based on Green and Resilient practices. These practices are weighted according to their importance to the automotive supply chain competitiveness. The Delphi technique is used to obtain the weights for the focused supply chain paradigms and corresponding practices. The model is then tested using a case study approach in the automotive supply chain. Findings: The case study results confirmed the applicability of this Index in a real-world supply chain. The results show that the Resilient supply chain management paradigm is the one considered as the one that more contributes for the automotive supply chain competitiveness. Research limitations/implications: The proposed Index was developed in the automotive sector context therefore it could not be adjusted to a different one. Future research could consider other aggregation methods for the Index construction. Practical implications: Supply chain participants will be able to evaluate the performance of their companies or supply chain in terms of Green and Resilient paradigms. Also, the Index can be effectively employed for functional benchmarking among competing companies and supply chains.Green; resilient; supply chain management; index; automotive industry

FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF NATEGLINIDE-LOADED ETHYL CELLULOSE NANOPARTICLES BY BOX-BEHNKEN DESIGN

Objective: Application of nanotechnology in drug delivery system has released leading new areas of research in sustained release of drugs. The objective of the present study is development and optimization of polymeric nanoparticles of Nateglinide (NTG).Methods: Nateglinide loaded ethyl cellulose (EC) nanoparticles were prepared by the solvent evaporation technique. Response surface methodology (RSM) using the Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the formulation of Nateglinide nanoparticles. The Box-Behnken design consisting of 14 runs, three-factor, three levels and two centre point was used in this study. The particle size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency of Nateglinide nanoparticles were investigated with respect to three independent variables including stirring speed (X1), time (X2) and surfactant concentration (X3). The optimized nanoparticle is then subjected to characterization studies including morphology, particle size, zeta potential, % Drug Loading (DL) and % Entrapment Efficiency (EE).Results: Nateglinide nanoparticles under the optimized conditions gave rise to the DL of 14.30±0.27 %, EE of 72.19±0.24 %, mean diameter of 172 nm and zeta potential value of-15.6 mV.Conclusion: The optimized nanoparticles formulation with improved characteristic properties could be a promising delivery system for Nateglinide.Â

FABRICATION AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF NATEGLINIDE-LOADED ETHYL CELLULOSE NANOPARTICLES

Objective: The objective of the present study is to formulate freeze-dried oral sustained release polymeric nanoparticles of nateglinide (NTG) todecrease dosing frequency, increase bioavailability, and minimize side effects.Methods: NTG-loaded ethyl cellulose (EC) nanoparticles were prepared by solvent evaporation technique and subjected to various studies forcharacterization, such as particle size, zeta potential, drug loading (DL), entrapment efficiency (EE), scanning electron microscopy, and evaluated forin vitro drug release.Results: From this study, it was observed that the fabricated nanoparticles showed satisfactory results, i.e. particle size with 172 nm, 72.19% EE,−15.81 mV zeta potential, and 14.30% DL. The results of in vitro release show that sustained release of NTG from the nanoparticles over the periodof 12 hrs and comparable with the immediate release tablets. Furthermore, accelerated stability studies revealed that the formulation is stable as perInternational Conference on Harmonisation guidelines.Conclusion: Thus, the nanoparticles formulation could be a promising delivery system for NTG with improved anti-diabetic activity, stability, andbioavailability.Keywords: Drug delivery, Nanoparticles, Nateglinide, In vitro release, Solvent evaporation method

On The Center Sets and Center Numbers of Some Graph Classes

For a set $S$ of vertices and the vertex $v$ in a connected graph $G$, $\displaystyle\max_{x \in S}d(x,v)$ is called the $S$-eccentricity of $v$ in $G$. The set of vertices with minimum $S$-eccentricity is called the $S$-center of $G$. Any set $A$ of vertices of $G$ such that $A$ is an $S$-center for some set $S$ of vertices of $G$ is called a center set. We identify the center sets of certain classes of graphs namely, Block graphs, $K_{m,n}$, $K_n-e$, wheel graphs, odd cycles and symmetric even graphs and enumerate them for many of these graph classes. We also introduce the concept of center number which is defined as the number of distinct center sets of a graph and determine the center number of some graph classes

Fetal skin as a pro-inflammatory organ: Evidence from a primate model of chorioamnionitis.

BackgroundIntrauterine infection is a primary cause of preterm birth and fetal injury. The pro-inflammatory role of the fetal skin in the setting of intrauterine infection remains poorly characterized. Whether or not inflammation of the fetal skin occurs in primates remains unstudied. Accordingly, we hypothesized that: i) the fetal primate skin would mount a pro-inflammatory response to preterm birth associated pro-inflammatory agents (lipopolysaccharides from Escherichia coli, live Ureaplasma parvum, interleukin-1β) and; ii) that inhibiting interleukin-1 signaling would decrease the skin inflammatory response.MethodsRhesus macaques with singleton pregnancies received intraamniotic injections of either sterile saline (control) or one of three pro-inflammatory agonists: E. coli lipopolysaccharides, interluekin-1β or live U. parvum under ultrasound guidance. A fourth group of animals received both E. coli lipopolysaccharide and interleukin-1 signaling inhibitor interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (Anakinra) prior to delivery. Animals were surgically delivered at approximately 130 days' gestational age.ResultsIntraamniotic lipopolysaccharide caused an inflammatory skin response characterized by increases in interluekin-1β,-6 and -8 mRNA at 16 hours. There was a modest inflammatory response to U. parvum, but interleukin-1β alone caused no inflammatory response in the fetal skin. Intraamniotic Anakinra treatment of lipopolysaccharide-exposed animals significantly reduced skin inflammation.ConclusionsIntraamniotic lipopolysaccharide and U. parvum were associated with modest increases in the expression of inflammatory mediators in primate fetal skin. Although administration of Interleukin-1β alone did not elicit an inflammatory response, lipopolysaccharide-driven skin inflammation was decreased following intraamniotic Anakinra therapy. These findings provide support for the role of the fetal skin in the development of the fetal inflammatory response